Irish Soda Bread

Just in time for St. Patrick's day, here is a recipe for the best Irish Soda Bread you will ever eat!! This recipe is from the Feb-Mar 2010 issue of MaryJanesFarm magazine. I think it's so good because of the addition of the whole-wheat and oat flours. I made my oat flour by taking old-fashioned rolled oats and processing them in my mini food processor until fine. I did make one change from the original recipe, it called for 2 cups of buttermilk but that was waaay too much and I only use 1 1/2 cups. Maybe they measure their dry ingredients differently than I do! ;-)

Irish Soda Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour               **Click here to print this recipe**
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine flours, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the buttermilk all at once. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. (Do not overmix.) Dust dough with additional flour and form into a round loaf. Resist the temptation to knead. (It is kind of wet so make sure to flour your hands well.) Place dough in a greased cast-iron skillet or on a baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, cut a cross into the top of the dough, about 1-inch deep. Brush top with beaten egg. Bake until the bread is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cover loosely with foil after 25 to 30 minutes to prevent overbrowning. Remove from oven and cool for 5 to 10 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

I'm linking up with Lisa at Two Bears Farm and Nancy at A Rural Journal for Rural Thursday, Mira at Crisp PhotoWorks for Weekly Photo Stew and Food Photography and Deb at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House for Farmgirl Friday.